Bournemouth in DorsetBournemouth Dorset brings back great memories of my motorcycling days, especially memories of biking through the New Forest on my Triumph 500 Speed Twin, enroute to Poole, Sandbanks, Swanage and Lulworth Cove. The south coast of Dorset is particularly scenic, including the Jurassic Coast path all the way to Lyme Regis. It is my opinion that Bournemouth is one of the best, if not the best British seaside town.
Corfe Castle itself is located between the seaside resort towns of Swanage and Wareham. Wareham being another scenic area on the Dorset coast. Actually, this seaside town of Bournemouth was developed by the Victorians. A Dorset squire named Lewis Tregonwell founded this town in 1811, when he built a summer home on the site of what is now the Royal Exeter Hotel. Now many hotels are available including holiday cottages, bed and breakfast and camping facilities in Dorset UK. The Royal Exeter Hotel was the only building, apart from an inn, on the wild stretch of heathland that followed the sweeping curve of Poole Bay from Hengistbury Head in the east to Durlston Head in the west. The coastline could have been made for the holidaymaker: it is rugged and split by deep ravines, called chines, that open out to the sea. In 1837 Sir George Tapps-Gervis, a local landowner, conceived the idea of establishing a resort on the land to the east of Tregonwell's estate, and in that year Westover Villas, Westover Gardens and the Bath Hotel were all built. A jetty was built in 1856, but was replaced in 1859. This second structure was itself replaced by an iron pier in 1880, which forms part of the present pier. The Arcade was built on the site of a rustic bridge crossing the Bourne Stream. Getting There: Getting to Bournemouth by train is a fun way to enjoy the fabulous scenery of Hampshire and Dorest. Waterloo Mainline Station in London has fairly frequent high speed train services to Dorset via Winchester in Hampshire. The railway came to the Dorset coast in 1870 bringing more visitors, but the town had little to offer in the way of entertainment until the first Winter Gardens were built in 1875. This building was used as a concert hall until 1935, when it was dismantled and replaced by an indoor bowling-green, the first in the country. The building was taken over by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and after the war it was discovered that the hall had good acoustic properties. The Winter Gardens then became the permanent home of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Fifty years passed before Bournemouth had another major centre of entertainment - the Pavilion. This was opened in 1929 and includes a 1,600 seat theatre, ballroom and restaurant with terraces overlooking the Lower Gardens through which flows the Bourne Stream.. 
The Lower Gardens are the hub of Bournemouth's family vacation seafront. They lie in a valley, bordered on one side by footpaths winding among pine trees where squirrels live. The gardens follow the Bourne, to form the Central Gardens and Upper Gardens from which a short walk leads to Meyrick Park, a pine-clad estate of 154 acres. Bournemouth's churches, all five of them are listed as being of architectural or historical interest. The only one of great antiquity being St Andrew's at Kinson, which has a 12th century chancel. St Peter's in Hinton Road, was completed in 1879 in the Gothic style and has a square tower and a spire. In the churchyard is the Shelley Tomb, burial place of Mary Shelley (1797 - 1851) the author of the novel Frankenstein and wife of the poet Percy Bysshe-Shelley. The Russell Museum- Cotes Art gallery and Museum specialises in Victoriana. The building itself is an interesting example of Victorian architecture with a large conservatory, bow-fronted upper windows and pinnacled roof. The Rothesay Museum has Italian paintings and pottery, English furniture, African objects, arms and armour. The Big Four Railway Museum has a large collection of locomotive nameplates and other railway relics. The British Typewriter Museum has nearly 400 machines on display, and if you're mechanically minded, like me, you'll find this Museum very interesting. But don't miss the paintings and oriental objects devoted to the poet, Percy Bysshe-Shelley, and named after his home in Italy. Transportation for getting around this seaside town of Bournemouth is very easy.
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